Pam explores local knitting groups and yarn shops, critiques patterns and shares her wisdom on techniques for improving your craft.

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Another Aran hat

Here are the two hats I finished this week and the new Aran hat I started.

I haven’t given up on charting the Aran hat with the diamonds of Irish Moss and the Honeycomb panels, but I decided to try something else first. So I cast on for another Aran hat, and I ran out of my tail for the long-tail cast-on at 96 stitches. Normally, I cast on 100, but I decided to stick with the 96 stitches because some of my hats are loose and because I was too lazy to do the cast-on again.

I did lots of calculations about what cables or other stitch patterns to use, but my calculations were off and I ripped out a few false tries. This afternoon, I finally hit on a design I really like because so far, the math has been easy and the effect is a nice, thick fabric that I think will resist the wind pretty well. I just used two Aran stitches, the basketweve and the small chain. I am hoping I find this one much easier to write up.

I also finished the plain black Alex’s Favorite Beanie. If I get this second Aran hat finished by tomorrow night, I’ll have 3 more hats to bring to the office on Monday. By contrast, Barbara Antoniello has 46 hats ready for me, made with that yarn that isn’t so smokey anymore. What would we do without people like her?

We do need more scarves and mittens though. Anybody want to make some?

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About the author

Pam MacKenzie
Our real estate editor, Pam MacKenzie, expresses her creative side in this blog about knitting. Pam learned to knit at age 6, when her friend’s mother made Pam’s doll a dress, and Pam wanted to make more. Her mother wanted her to learn how to sew in high school, but she was afraid of the sewing machines, cutting fabric the wrong way, and the potential that sewing would have for bringing down her grade-point average. Every year, she managed to find a course conflict to avoid sewing classes. But the day after high school graduation, she took her graduation money to a fabric store, bought a kit to make a sweater, taught herself to read patterns and never looked back. These days, she knits a prayer shawl every month, along with sweaters, tote bags, gift bags and other goodies. She also designs many of her projects. Read More About PamE-mail Pam